Gas prices spike as a result of a 330,000-gallon pipeline spill in Alabama.

Professors at New Mexico Tech are working to recreate the explosion that injured dozens in New York's Chelsea neighborhood.

Since trending news is generally depressing and the Internet probably won't put a halt to the constant headlines any time soon, here is a virtual bioluminescent forest for at least some temporary relaxation.

Making a place for LGBT parents—and their kids—is a priority for nonprofits

By Christie Chisholm

Adrien Lawyer and Elena Letourneau are what they refer to as “invisible”—a white, seemingly straight couple with a 6-year-old son.

Lawyer had his breasts removed in 2004. A year later, he began hormone replacement therapy, which deepened his voice and sprouted hair on his face. Lawyer is now legally a man. Once recognized as a lesbian couple, he and his partner have undergone not only a physical but a cultural transformation. They appear to be the all-American family. And that’s exactly what they are.

China, whose citizens account for one-third of smokers in the world, banned smoking in most public places. The law took effect yesterday, but most citizens and shopkeepers had not heard of it until then.

One problem with enforcing the new ban is smoking is an integral part of Chinese culture. Most business transactions finish with the exchange of expensive tobacco, many sunny afternoons are spent smoking on café patios, and giving someone a cigarette is viewed as a great way to break the ice.

Smoking is a characteristic of the famous and powerful. Chairman Mao, for example, was a heavy smoker, and Chinese celebrities and athletes are commonly seen smoking.

China is the world's largest producer of tobacco. Cigarette sales and production taxes totaled $75 billion in 2009. Some regions, like the Yunnan Province depend on the industry, with 45 percent of its revenue coming from tobacco.

There are 300 million people who smoke in China, and the habit causes about 1.2 million deaths each year. Studies show the Chinese have a low awareness of the health risks of smoking and secondhand smoke. About half of health care workers smoke.

A hack's guide to smoking cessation

I quit smoking three years ago. It was necessary. I smoked two packs a day and a leathery, precancerous lesion was beginning to form in the back of my throat. It was also taking over my life. I had to schedule everything around smoking.

It was slavery.

Now that I no longer smoke, smokers often ask me how I quit (They don't actually. I just tell them.)

You can use the patch, but it's like quitting three times. Each time you switch to the smaller patch, you shake sweat and pray for death. It confuses the body. The cigarettes are gone, but the nicotine remains. The patch provides a steady stream of the drug, not the spike and dip of a cigarette.

Forget the patch.

There are nicotine lozenges but they deliver 4 milligrams of nicotine. You will literally vomit nicotine out of your eye sockets.

Cold turkey is the only way to go. Some people say cut down then quit. Forget about it. This is the patented John Bear quit smoking method.

Wake up the day before you quit and smoke a pack of Marlboro Reds. Then smoke another pack of Marlboro Reds. Then smoke a pack of Newports. (And gobble serotonin reuptake inhibitors like candy.)

Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill today that will raise the price of cigarettes 75 cents. And if you’re thinking about driving to the res to the avoid the tax, the proverbial man is one step ahead of you. The Legislature made some agreements with the state’s tribal leaders, who will also hike prices 75 cents.

With this increase, New Mexico’s tax on smokes comes to $1.66 per pack, the 18th highest in the United States. The national average is $1.34 per pack.

The measure was sponsored by Reps. Gail Chasey and Danice Picraux and Sens. Dede Feldman and Mary Jane Garcia.

The governor also vetoed the food tax, which would have brought in about $68 million. He’s going to make it up with stimulus money and by dipping into the reserves, among other things, according to this New Mexico Independent article.